From Hill to Sea
by Lyn Harkeran
Summary: A young woman goes in search of her husband, when he goes missing. In the process she realizes what she wants in life and that Love is more powerful than Magic. It's a short story and contains an old creature from Irish Mythology. I pictured Tom Hiddleston playing the husband. In an interview he did a Irish accent and I believe that was how this idea was born.


**From Hill to Sea: A Short Story**

* * *

I sit on my window seat, observing the rolling hills and beautiful dells that I now call my own. It is such a lovely place, my Ireland. So green and lush and so very gentle is this place to my senses, almost as if it was made for me and me alone.

I watch the birds in the brilliant blue sky, fly in their formation and wonder for the millionth time how would it be to fly? Up and away in the air without a care in the world! Soaring so high that the sun touches your very soul, and diving so low that the fish can see your belly as you pull up at the last second. Oh how would it be to fly!

The shores of the nearby sea call to me and I would go, if I could. But I made a promise I must keep. I promised to stay within the house and I will honor my end of the bargain.

Just as I sigh in defeat, I hear someone clear their throat behind me. I turn, a smile covering my face, for I know who it is. It is my Master; he is home!

Mirthful light blue eyes meet mine and I feel my stomach flutter. My Master is truly a handsome man, with fair skin, high cheek bones and a distinguished profile. But nothing about him pleases me more than his voice. That silken, majestic baritone that makes the world turns upside down on itself. Oh, I could listen to him for hours and he needn't speak anything but gibberish and I would be content for the remainder of my days!

My Master doesn't bother to keep the grin off his lips as he draws closer to where I sit at the window. He has noticed how I stare at him and his eyes show off his devious nature.

"What captures my lady's attention so?"

I shake my head and scoff, trying to hide my embarrassment at being caught watching him.

"As if thou didn't know, Milord," I cry indignantly.

"Indulge me, my dear," he prompts, that wicked grin of his undoing me as it always does.

I make a show of sighing loudly as I shift at the windowsill. "I was admiring the rolling hills and the sea shore . . . But thy appearance has distracted mine eyes and made me think of only thee."

He laughs then, a bubbly giggle of sorts that is so unique that I know I will never hear it from another. He sounds like a mischievous imp as he chuckles and I find that I cannot help but join him. We laugh together and I marvel at the simplicity of the moment.

"A truer answer was ne'er spoken!" He claims happily as he crosses the room to kneel at my feet. His hands encase mine and I care for him more than ever as he looks into my eyes with love and concern.

"How does Milady fair this day? Is she comfortable? Is she content upon this eve?"

"My life is a happy one, my lord. And as such I am a happy mistress."

His forehead wrinkles slightly in frustration. "You twist around my inquiry, Branna Malora."

I know what he is truly asking me, but I do so love to toy with him!

"Milord?"

He takes his large hands and lays them gently on my swollen belly, his eyes never leaving mine. "How does my Lady fair?" He asks once more.

"I am well," I reply, "As is our child . . . She will surely be a strong maid! For her kicks grow stronger by the hour and she is forever restless in her movements!"

He studies me in wonder. "Why do you believe the child to be female?"

I look off to a spot only I can see and tears cloud my eyes as I answer him.

"I just know, my love. There is no explanation or reason behind it . . . but I know it is a little lass that grows inside me."

He says nothing as he lays his head to rest against the prominent bump and closes his eyes. I love the feeling of having my loved ones so near me.

I carry my husband's child . . . A child that we created out of love and adoration. When she is born, the babe will be living proof of our bond, and no one will ever question our kinship again. We will finally belong together.

My Master wedded me without the proper consent and I was forced to leave my family and heritage because of this; but I no longer care for companionship other than my lords.

As my beloved holds onto me and our unborn child, I feel whole. And I know without a doubt that I am home.

* * *

I cry harder than ever before, my heart torn in two pieces that mock me mercilessly. I have never felt pain this acute or desperation of this magnitude, in my entire life! Oh if only the agony would cease! Let it fade before I go mad from grief, I beg the heavens, but it seems that no one is listening.

My love . . . My sweet Tom is gone and I am left alone in the house we have shared, with a broken heart and a conflicted mind.

My Master told me he had to check on our lands and without another word he had left, and still he has not returned. It has been a two days since I last saw him alive and well and I fear the worst.

What am I to do? How will I survive in this strange place without my beloved by my side? How will our child know how much her father loved her if he is not here to tell her?

I fight back the sorrow and put my courage to the grindstone. I must find him. I will go out and search for my husband until I find him. If it means that I too am lost to the world or left lifeless in the moors, so be it!

I shoulder my heavy shall and leave the place I have called home, walking into the lush green hills opposite the sea line and go farther inland. Today I pay the beautiful landscape no mind as I walk along the steep ridges into the slightly harsher marshes of my Master's lands. I have no time to do so. Not when everything I care about is missing. So I focus on my footing.

I have never been this far into my Master's land and as such, I am wary of where I place my feet. One wrong step and I will sink into the misty sands and be swallowed up for all eternity. So I tread with care.

My child is surprisingly still as I move through the unfamiliar territory, for the first time in many months she doesn't move. It is almost as if she knows why we are out here. As if my unborn child is urging me onward.

I take strength from my child and keep walking, not knowing where I'm going or why. I don't ask questions, for there is no one to ask. I merely let my senses guide me further into the untamed wilderness.

I don't understand how I know where to go, but I do, and soon I reach a small clearing in the middle of the woodland. I have never seen this place before, and yet . . . I know it like I had lived there my entire life. It is a place of strong magic and mystery.

I walk to the center of the clearing, my eyes landing on an unknown figure that is standing in the center. I silently draw nearer, my gaze never leaving the being that currently has his back to me, and I wait for him to notice that he has company.

Finally he turns and large light blue eyes meet mine. My stomach flutters anxiously as I realize it is my beloved.

After several moments I find my voice, and as I speak I can hear the pain and fear.

"Why did you leave me, husband," I ask in a quiet voice. "Have I displeased you, or done something to your disliking?"

He ignores me and says not a word, but bows his head in shame. And in that moment I realize why he had left. I know why he is here and the thought scares me, but don't let on, for my husband must make the first move. It is his decision after all.

"I can't keep you locked up from the world forever." He spits out, his deep voice a low rumble of emotion. "But I could no sooner lose you." He sounds nothing like the man I know.

I wait knowing what will come.

"What have you decided my Lord?"

He looks at me in shock, before his anger surfaces.

"Dost thou jest?"

"No, kind sir," I reply calmly. "I do not jest with thee."

My beloved falls to the ground, his large hands grasping something so tight, that his knuckles turn an unhealthy shade of white. I know the object well, but I only focus on my Tom. I kneel down across from him and against every instinct I have, I tell him the truth.

"I let you find me that day . . ."

"What sayest thou?"

"I had watched you for some time before I made the decision to be yours. . . I wanted to make sure that you were the man you appeared to be. I needed to make sure that you were kind and true before I gave you my heart. "

Tom's eyes were wet with tears as he began to understand what I was saying. "You knew I would find the skin? You left it there for me to claim?"

I nod, my ebony hair bouncing slightly in the light spring breeze. "I loved you before you ever set eyes upon me, dearest. . . I made the choice, Tom. . . I wanted you to find my skin."

Tom cries out, a guttural sound that makes my soul falter. Never before had I heard such a sound, on land or sea. After a moment I realize that Tom is sobbing. Never before have I heard him cry, and I pray that I will never have to hear such a heartbroken sound er'r again.

As the dusk begins to fall on the hills, my beloved finally makes his decision. Standing from the ground he approaches me, the oily skin in his calloused, yet gentle hands.

"I took your skin, so that you would never be able to leave me," he admits. "But now that my love for you has grown, I realize that I cannot bear to see you unhappy. . ."

To my surprise, my husband holds out the skin to me, his eyes full of sincerity and love. "Take your skin, my fair Selkie and reclaim your freedom."

I slowly take my skin from him and hold it in my hands. I feel a magical warmth shift through my veins as I hold my true form in my hands. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't missed it. I had longed for the sea, this much was truth. But I had also never known that life could have so much meaning, on the mainland.

As I hold my old skin to my heart, I made up my mind.

Kneeling down on the earthen mud, I slowly begin to dig a hole with my hands, and soon I have enough room to lay my old skin to rest.

"Branna," Tom calls out suddenly realizing what I'm about to do. "Dearest, you don't have to do this. . ."

"I want to do it, Milord." I immediately reply, knowing that it is the most truthful thing I will ever say.

I place my Selkie skin into the hole and bury it. As the loose dirt covers it, I feel the magic warmth leave me and the world is left to the regular coldness of the human realm. But I do not mind. How could I when I have my beloved by my side once more?

Slowly we walk back to our home, hand in hand. And as we reach the door, my husband pulls me to him and we share a tender kiss.

We do not pull away from each other until it is absolutely necessary, and as Tom pulls away he grins that mischievous grin that I have become so fond and whispers, "How does my Lady Selkie fair this day?"

I place my free hand on my stomach and reply without a moment's hesitation, "I am the happiest Selkie that ever lived! And will always be thus!"

Tom chuckles deeply as he grazes his finger down my cheek and catches the stray tear of joy that has escaped from the corner of my eye. "Then we shall be happy until the end of our days, Branna Malora."

As we enter our home, I looked back just once to see the sea. The waves seemed to say a last farewell as I studied the calm lapping at the shoreline. And I in turn give out one last call in my old language; that of the seals, and then turn my back on the sea, for I had a husband to love and a family to look after.

And I know I will never regret my decision. For I know I am home.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

_**I have no idea where this came from, but I wrote it all in one sitting because it was so powerful to me. As it says in the summary, I pictured Tom as Tom Hiddleston. This is because in an interview I was watching he did a Irish accent and this idea was born. **_

_**For those of you who don't know what Selkies are, I shall tell you. Selkies are a mythical type of Seal that have the ability to shed their seal skin and become human. If someone steals, hides, or destroys the skin, then the Selkie is trapped on land forever.**_

_**Please review if you read!**_

_**~Lyn Harkeran**_


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